I think it was morgan freeman who said that in order to remove racism, we have to think it doesnt exist (Or something along that lines, I forget the exact wording).

Whoa, whoa, that's way off the mark. People taking, "stop talking about it," out of the context of the interview certainly doesn't help the matter. He said that we should stop referring to people by their color, because those labels make it harder to actually stop racism.

I have to admit, Sony seems to be blundering a lot with making ads as of late, what with the shitty American PSP ads, the Savior one in Italy, some that came under fire in the UK, and now this. But this last one just seems to be pulling straws.

Thoughtless, maybe, but not racist. Once again, people are interpreting this new PSP ad campaign the way they want to. If you "want" to see racism in it, you'll do so. There's nothing inherently racistic about the ad.

Fuck, if you're going to complain about white vs. black motifs you could claim the whole fucking fantasy genre of book/films/games is racistic. The heroes are always heroes of light (white) who fight against the evil dark (black) villains.

Foolish? I disagree. Obviously to each their own. We all perceive our surroundings differently, but I have never been one to be easily bothered, or offended on anything around me in life. I don't take it that seriously. Solely on trivial matters such as these.

Well I posted the Sony story on another site, and well, im gonna post what I posted regarding it here, rather long, and some of you may disagree, but I dunno, I feel I made some good points. I think what we all need to keep in mind though is Society is never gonna get over racism, prejudice, or whatever for quite some time. It may shift from time to time, but humanity is just not able to move past these kind of ideals at the current, and probably future time. Sad, but true.

I suppose it can really be said that its in the eyes of the beholder on this one. If anything, I see it as merely a fun little challenge, the black person (black PSP) being challenged by the white person (white psp). I dont see it as the white person whooping the black person, or looking at her as though shes lesser. I see it as..say a fight between a black soldier and a white soldier.

You dont go on saying that..."ZOMG, KILL BILL IS RACIST CAUSE A WHITE WOMAN KILLS ASIAN WOMEN!! ZOMG!!" To me, I sort of see the same thing going on here. There is no "blatant" racism going on, and frankly, the only people who would see racism are those who feel that racism should still be considered as a basis for any clash between white and black, or whatever.

Personally, I get a small feeling that this is in some way just another crack at the gaming industry. I wonder if, for instance, a car manufacturer did something like this. Would the reaction be the same? Would anyone even care?

Another interesting aspect, is that American organizations are outcrying this...when the billboard is IN ANOTHER COUNTRY, and the company is FROM ANOTHER COUNTRY. Who are we to involve ourselves in something like this. Especially the NAACP, when they said,

"The days of blacks being portrayed in minstrel shows are long gone, and with good reason," Callender said. "The minstrel show was an awful chapter in history and this ad smacks of that age and time. It is even further unacceptable that some corporations still think it is ok to use racially charged media images. The latest Sony ad conjures up bad memories of when stereotypical and offensive images of people of color were accepted means of selling a product. Sony should immediately apologize and discontinue these archaic advertising tactics."

Wow, so quick to say its racially charged eh? How bout instead of damning every use of different skin colors, you might...I dunno, think of it as just a normal part of life? You should try and hide the fact that black people are "black" and that white people are white. Its like saying you shouldnt contrast between green grass and brown dirt. In my opinion, your just propagating racial stereotypes by insinuiating that this billboard is racially charged. I say that weve reached the point nowadays that this should NOT be a problem. Its not like its saying white is better than black, or vice versa. Its just contrast. So what that they used human beings? They could have easily used dogs, or cats, or something else, yet somehow, if its human, its so much worse?

Is it because of slavery and oppression? How bout you forget about it, realize blacks as slaves is part of the past, and stop trying to dredge it up at every convenient chance you get? Yeah, theres still racism, still oppression, but ya know what? There is always gonna be. You could say "By accepting this add as not being racist, your saying its ok being racist, and that racism is ok"

Of course im not, im not saying that at all, but in my opinion, this does not seem racist, or insensitive, or anything of the sort, its simply an add, portaying a white person and a black person. Couldnt you say that always portraying attractive women, and men, is prejudice against not so attractive men and woman who are probably just as ridiculed as ethnic groups are today. Its rediculous bickering, when all this energy could be used on so much better things.

Logged

-Give a man a fire, and hes warm for a day. Light a man on fire, and hes warm for the rest of his life.-

I need to correct myself here--just to clarify, the above two posts I made were in regards to the Loco Roco picture. My bad.

My stance on the PSP advertisement is--well, I think it's in bad taste, but again, like Cauton said, if you want to interpret racist vibes from a picture, you'll get them. That goes for many other things, and not just racism.